The Royal Film Commission Jordan | Jordan's First Film Tourism Strategy Seeks to Attract Visitors Through Cinema

13/08/2017

Jordan's
First Film Tourism Strategy

Seeks to
Attract Visitors Through Cinema

Amman, 13 August 2017 - Under the
patronage of Her Royal Highness Princess Rym Ali, the Royal Film Commission
(RFC) launched Jordan’s first film tourism strategy today, which is set to
guide efforts over the coming three years to attract more visitors to Jordan
through film. The strategy was developed in cooperation with the Jordan Tourism
Board and with support from the USAID Building Economic Sustainability through
Tourism Project (BEST).

Representatives from local tour
operators and film production companies attended the one-day conference, which
included sessions on the latest global developments in film tourism and the
successes of countries like Denmark and Czech Republic in attracting hundreds
of thousands of tourists, as a result of shooting blockbuster films. Jordan's
film tourism strategy was discussed, as well as designing tourism itineraries
around film locations.

According to George David, RFC’s
Managing Director, the filmmaking business has generated around JD150 million
and created 5,000 full-time jobs in Jordan in the past 10 years. He
added: "The strategy will seek to promote Jordan by capitalizing on it
being the location where many well-known films were shot, including Lawrence of
Arabia, Indiana Jones & the Last Crusade, The Martian, and Rogue One: A
Star Wars Story.”

The Director General of the
Jordan Tourism Board, Abdul Razzaq Arabiyat, explained: "The
strategy was developed in consultation with film and tourism industry
representatives and will capitalize on the huge potential of Jordan to become
an international film destination." He added that blockbuster films
help promote destinations and there are many examples of countries that
witnessed a huge increase in tourists as a result. In New Zealand, tourism
soared to more than $3 billion in 2014 following filming The Hobbit franchise
there, and Florida reported an almost 70% increase in tourism thanks to the
film Dolphin Tale.

Arabiyat confirmed that the
strategy was developed to help Jordan benefit from the opportunities that
filming destinations have, as designing tour itineraries around film locations
can attract more visitors. He also noted that JTB has hosted many production
companies from Hollywood and Bollywood in recent years and has offered
incentives to encourage more filming in Jordan. JTB also supported RFC’s
efforts to promote Jordan at international film festivals, including the Cannes
Film Festival.

Ibrahim Osta, USAID BEST Chief of
Party, said that film commissions compete to attract part of an $88
billion-dollar industry that yields deep direct and indirect economic benefits
to filming destinations. Thus, “USAID BEST is supporting Jordan’s efforts to
boost its international competitiveness, create new tourism jobs, and
distribute tourism revenues across the country through this film strategy,
which lays out a clear path to attracting film productions and visitors."

The Royal Film Commission –
Jordan (RFC) is a public institution, with administrative and financial
autonomy, established in 2003 with a mandate to promote for and contribute to
the development of an internationally competitive Jordanian audio-visual industry.
The RFC organizes training workshops, screenings and provides production
support services.